The things they don't want us to know!
15 November 2005, 07:46 PM
#31
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Posts: n/a
Yeah F1's had modems in to dial home once plugged into a tel line if theres a fault so they can be analysed from McLaren HQ. Mclaren will and do send out engineers to fix them wherever they are. Also all owners of an F1 get a full tool kit/setup in their garage so visiting Mclaren engineers can fix them at the owners home. That was 14 odd years ago though, i imagine they've upgraded the modem/dial back to something more sophisticated now. Most F1s have been upgraded in a lot of areas by the factory since new.
23 November 2005, 12:02 AM
#32
I have a nice Story about Aston Martin doing "cover ups". A bit long winded, and probably not to AM's liking either, but it is true.
This involved an Aston Martin Virage Volante with the Vantage bodywork and suspension option (looked the mutts nutts - absoluetly huge monster of a thing
).
This vehicle was bought 3rd hand via car dealer, car looked great, Hpi clear, FSH, etc all ok. Car was bought.
It soon came apparent that something wasn't right with the car. It was suffering a rather concerning amount of panel corrosion for its age (aluminium). Which on a £150K car is not right at all. Other things such as trim problems (falling off, rattles etc. Leather in very poor condition for age and mileage etc.), and cracking on lead loaded seams were noticed. This was put down to it being "hand built" and the wonderful quirks of old school Astons. The leather was just blamed on neglect - but it still didn't add up.
Then when the owner viewed other Aston Viarges at club meets, gatherings and shows etc. It became obvious that this car, despite being an older model, had newer updated components - such as the dash and instruments switch gear (older models had the Granada Scorpio dash - this car didn't...but it should have). Again this was blamed on a "quirk" of being such a low volume production car, maybe a previous owner had it updated. It was also noted there was a small discrepency in one of the dates and mileage in the service history, which didn't match up, with a long period of the car doing "nothing" this being put down as just a clerical error on dates - it can happen or maybe the car was put into long term storage for some reason.
Other things such as the owner trying to get a duplicate ignition key made (american ignition - nobody execpt Aston could obtain the blanks - dealers weren't allowed to cut the keys either ). Keys were cut at Newport Pagnal from the build sheet numbers. The wrong key was always sent. So somewhere along the lines the lock barrels were changed. No biggy, "it happens"....but adding up everything else to the car makes you think "I wonder".
So the owner requests build sheet of the car from AM. It was delivered, but the specs on the sheet didn't match the car specs (wheel sizes, type, plus other stuff) When Aston Martin were queried on this as if there was any mistake, the owner was told it was correct and then given the silent treatment! That isn't right, a car with full Aston history magically changes specs by itself without them knowing?
Well, the story concludes after the original owner was found, and questioned. To the current owners shock, he told the following story: He bought the car brand new. One day it was picked up by AM to have some routine service work carried out. Somehow, it was involved in a severe accident whilst in AM's custody. Suffice to say AM informed him and promised to repair the car to as new at their own cost. However the owner, upon inspecting the car for himself rejected it. In his own words "there was not a panel on the car that was not damaged". So he asked for a refund of the car, which was given to him, and he never saw the car again.
So, somewhere along the lines it was repaired, updated and then sold on by AM through their dealer network. Upon which the 2nd owner purchased it, completely unaware of its history. And it finally ending up in the hands on the 3rd owner, who after hearing of this alarming story, swiftly part ex'd the car with a dealer for a nice Bentley.
That Aston is still about somewhere, and probably owned by someone completely unware of it's history
Sleep tight
edit: another link to what these things look like: http://www.detailingdynamics.com/carom0501.html
I promise, you will never see a car on the road with front and rear tyres as wide as what these have....Five spoke 10.5x18 inch OZ alloy wheels with 285/45 tyres FRONT!! and rear Fantastic looking car....complete bitch and a load of crap to drive though!
This involved an Aston Martin Virage Volante with the Vantage bodywork and suspension option (looked the mutts nutts - absoluetly huge monster of a thing
).This vehicle was bought 3rd hand via car dealer, car looked great, Hpi clear, FSH, etc all ok. Car was bought.
It soon came apparent that something wasn't right with the car. It was suffering a rather concerning amount of panel corrosion for its age (aluminium). Which on a £150K car is not right at all. Other things such as trim problems (falling off, rattles etc. Leather in very poor condition for age and mileage etc.), and cracking on lead loaded seams were noticed. This was put down to it being "hand built" and the wonderful quirks of old school Astons. The leather was just blamed on neglect - but it still didn't add up.
Then when the owner viewed other Aston Viarges at club meets, gatherings and shows etc. It became obvious that this car, despite being an older model, had newer updated components - such as the dash and instruments switch gear (older models had the Granada Scorpio dash - this car didn't...but it should have). Again this was blamed on a "quirk" of being such a low volume production car, maybe a previous owner had it updated. It was also noted there was a small discrepency in one of the dates and mileage in the service history, which didn't match up, with a long period of the car doing "nothing" this being put down as just a clerical error on dates - it can happen or maybe the car was put into long term storage for some reason.
Other things such as the owner trying to get a duplicate ignition key made (american ignition - nobody execpt Aston could obtain the blanks - dealers weren't allowed to cut the keys either ). Keys were cut at Newport Pagnal from the build sheet numbers. The wrong key was always sent. So somewhere along the lines the lock barrels were changed. No biggy, "it happens"....but adding up everything else to the car makes you think "I wonder".
So the owner requests build sheet of the car from AM. It was delivered, but the specs on the sheet didn't match the car specs (wheel sizes, type, plus other stuff) When Aston Martin were queried on this as if there was any mistake, the owner was told it was correct and then given the silent treatment! That isn't right, a car with full Aston history magically changes specs by itself without them knowing?
Well, the story concludes after the original owner was found, and questioned. To the current owners shock, he told the following story: He bought the car brand new. One day it was picked up by AM to have some routine service work carried out. Somehow, it was involved in a severe accident whilst in AM's custody. Suffice to say AM informed him and promised to repair the car to as new at their own cost. However the owner, upon inspecting the car for himself rejected it. In his own words "there was not a panel on the car that was not damaged". So he asked for a refund of the car, which was given to him, and he never saw the car again.
So, somewhere along the lines it was repaired, updated and then sold on by AM through their dealer network. Upon which the 2nd owner purchased it, completely unaware of its history. And it finally ending up in the hands on the 3rd owner, who after hearing of this alarming story, swiftly part ex'd the car with a dealer for a nice Bentley.
That Aston is still about somewhere, and probably owned by someone completely unware of it's history
Sleep tight
edit: another link to what these things look like: http://www.detailingdynamics.com/carom0501.html
I promise, you will never see a car on the road with front and rear tyres as wide as what these have....Five spoke 10.5x18 inch OZ alloy wheels with 285/45 tyres FRONT!! and rear
Fantastic looking car....complete bitch and a load of crap to drive though!
Last edited by ALi-B; 23 November 2005 at 12:22 AM. Reason: add the link so people know what beast they are looking at
23 November 2005, 01:32 AM
#33
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A chap I worked with years ago had his RR repaired free of charge because the fault was something which shouldn't have happened. And it wasn't exactly new even then. He had to pay for some leatherwork to be replaced, though - that wasn't covered by their warranty.
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